Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the project of European Regulation on public service requirements in passenger transport

The Committee released last May its opinion on the project of new Regulation prepared by the Commission. The Committee welcomes the Commission’s intention of introducing a market regime for public passenger transport based on controlled rather than full competition.

It also approves the most important regulatory instruments proposed, such as the obligation for the competent authorities to provide adequate public passenger services, the establishment of quality criteria, the principle of financial compensation covering expenditure incurred in meeting the public service requirements, the granting of exclusive rights for a specified period, and the organisation of competition through tendering, with appropriate derogations.

However, the Committee is sceptical on some aspects of the draft Regulation. First and foremost, it thinks that the project doesn’t respect the principle of subsidiarity and the fundamental rights of local authorities.

It also insists on the fact that the derogations from the obligation of tendering and the quality criteria are imprecise and unwieldy.